Carl Roberts » 2011

Less is more

January 3rd, 2011 | Posted in Newsletter | Comments Off
Tags: Carl Roberts, January 2011, Newsletter, Sculpture

Last year I received an invitation to “Frequency, Lumens, Place” an installation. This invitation was even less pictorial than the previous one received which had a photograph of floor boards as its ‘best foot forward’, image. The card only had the words and the flat background colour to give you any idea of what to expect. The words were, presumably, carefully considered so as not to need an image. I was left clueless until I was given more information in a separate communiqué (also without an image) which described something that made me think of a discothèque. Since I am now too old for discos I did not go to the opening. However the invitation itself got me thinking about the visual arts and if it has less to say than before.

In time-honoured image making “a picture is worth a thousand words”. It conveys many things that can be assimilated at once but are not easily talked or written about. It is or was one of the reasons why we make images and it follows naturally that we put the best of those on our invitations. However, there are many new forms like words, movement, sound, and lighting which have made inroads into the visual art space. This invitation is a “back to the future” moment in art when on the one had we seem to be leaving behind the traditional part of art and on the other there is renewed interest in it.

William Bouguereau and Vladimir Tretchikoff are artists who have painted in an orthodox manner. They were the antitheses of all we have held dear and progressive in art for many years. William Bouguereau was the top of the pops at the Academie when Monet exhibited the first impressionist work ‘Soleil Levant’ (Sunrise), at the Salon de Refuses. Subsequently, Monet has been acclaimed whilst Bouguereau was discredited and disregarded. However, I recently received two emails that seem to indicate a change of heart. In one letter the person wept at seeing Bouguereau’s work and raved about the artists ability to create “luminous flesh colours”. The other confirmed this new found merit as it was about a recently published book on the man. Similarly, Tretchikoff has been given some respectability. Previously his work epitomised kitsch and was untouchable for many but lately his work has been auctioned off for millions. Also, I believe that he has been accepted into our National Gallery. Despite the rumour it would only be over the previous directors’ dead body.

Resurrections in art are a regular occurrence. We rediscover ourselves and find those values which have always been there but need to be reasserted. The Lascaux cave paintings can be considered an installation as can Bernini’s work in the Cornaro chapel (1645-52) . What we think is new in art is usually not, rather it is something that has risen from the ashes of the past. How can an artist like Bouguereau be respected, then discredited, and then valued once again? Perhaps, it is about what we choose to see.

I did meet Tretchi in Garlicks many years ago and have recently read his book “Pigeon’s Luck” but I am not a great fan. I prefer more painterly and expressive works like that of Euan Macleod featured in the November 29 issue of Time magazine. His works talk to me about things that are best described as sensual, mysterious and having pathos. The article speaks about the “forgotten years of painting” and Macleod himself speaks of “when painting was incredibly uncool” and “seen as a real anachronism”. This was when installations became popular and when art works became more conceptual. Now his kind of work is being reconsidered and it seems painting is cool again.

Tom Wolf, in his novel “The Painted Word” (1975) predicted that in the future we would see, in the Museum of Modern Art, large boards of text (eight and a half feet by eleven) written by the critics as the art works whilst on the side there would be small reproductions to illustrate those texts. He was right, at least in the sense that words would become an important part of the visual arts. The homes of my friends’ support this fact. Above their mantel pieces and behind their sofas are words of art, like “LOVE” or “JOY”. Like Trechi’s art works once were, these masterpieces are now readily available from your local retailer. Presumably you can get it in red, green or white and with tinsel on it to match your festive decorations.

My wish for 2011 and the next few years is that artists will brave the stigma of being conventional and paint with oil on canvas. I am tired of the old: of pathetic installations, the trite words in art, the easily achieved display of bin bags, the self indulgent men prancing around in tutus or women showing off their tits. These kinds of works have been around for nearly thirty years now and I think of them as conventional and boring. It is time for artists to move on. If my wish is granted the painters will paint with their hearts, they would tackle less but communicate more.

Have a wonderful 2011.

Carl